Climbing up the Walls
by pennipotens
Summary: *UPDATED 6/19 - Chapter 5 up* A serial killer who starves his victims has come to Rome, and he has his sights set on Kim. Can Jimmy find her in time, and can Max and Kenny's fledgling relationship handle the strain?
1. The first victim

Climbing up the Walls  
  
By Pennipotens  
  
Author's Notes: This is my first Picket Fences fic; I got motivated from reading Ushuaia's great stories. It takes place on a slightly altered timeline between seasons 2 and 3 – Kenny and Max are together already, but Terms of Estrangement hasn't happened yet. Please let me know what you think!  
  
Chapter 1   
  
*~*~*  
  
I am the key to the lock in your house  
  
That keeps your toys in the basement  
  
And if you get too far inside  
  
You'll only see my reflection  
  
*~*~*  
  
"C'mon, c'mon, just a little bit more..." Max pleaded with the piecrust as she worked to stretch it over the apple filling. "Almost there - dammit!" The crust gave way, breaking and sending her fingers into the still uncovered guts of the pie. She banged her head on the counter, not really caring that she'd just coated her forehead with flour.  
  
"Now what did that pie ever do to you?" Max lifted her head off the counter and Kenny had to smile, she looked adorable with flour streaked across her forehead and sticking like snowflakes to her red bangs.   
  
"The pie is out to get me, that's what it did. It's trying to drive me crazy." She allowed herself to relax as he came around the counter to take her in his arms. She sank back into him and let the tension flow out of her. "Why can't I cook? Little kids can cook."  
  
Kenny laughed, and she could feel his breath on the top of her head. "I can't cook either. That's why we always have to get take-out. But think of all the time we save not doing any dishes."  
  
"Mmm, time we put to good use..." She turned and kissed him, getting flour onto his face as well. They stood and laughed at each other, and she was overwhelmed by such a strong sense of contentment, Max thought she might cry. She saw a devilish look on Kenny's face, and quick as lightening he reached behind her to the abandoned pie and scooped out a handful of the uncooked apples. "Oh no," she said, as he leaned toward her, "no way Kenny, cut it out - ahh!" She shrieked as he pushed the apples at her mouth, getting apple-mush streaked across her face as she tried to duck away.  
  
She grabbed a handful of her own to counter-attack, but Kenny was already off and running. "Get back here!" she yelled, giggling as she chased him into the bedroom, pie-making forgotten.  
  
*****  
  
"Mmmm, that smells delicious," Jimmy said as he entered the kitchen, his mouth starting to water. Jill swatted him away as he moved towards the steaming pie on the countertop.  
  
"Hands off mister, that's for the harvest festival." Jimmy sighed and opened the fridge, hoping to find something besides carrot sticks. He settled, grudgingly, for an extra baking apple.  
  
He crunched into it and sat at the table across from his wife. "I had to send Rich Cayton home yesterday, put him on mandatory leave. I didn't want to, but he gave me no choice-he keeps dragging people into the station for no reason and threatening them."  
  
Jill looked at him sympathetically. "Well, can you blame him? His daughter's been missing for how long now, nine weeks?"  
  
"Ten," Jimmy confirmed, shaking his head. "I know I shouldn't, but I'm almost praying the body turns up. The odds of her coming back alive at this point...he can't give up, and it's going to drive him crazy." He sighed, hating the feeling of helplessness the situation gave him.   
  
Jill put a comforting hand over his. "He knows you're doing the best you can. I think the rest of the town is just trying to forget about it, it's too upsetting. It's like she just vanished off the face of the earth." She shuddered a bit.  
  
"I know. Her car sitting by the side of the road like that...it doesn't make any sense." Jimmy tried not to let his mind wander where it always did when he thought about Sara Cayton - to his own seventeen-year-old daughter, Kimberley. "It's like she just got out and walked away. We combed the car four times, not a single hair or print."   
  
"Well, it is possible that she ran away," Jill said, already knowing what Jimmy's response would be.  
  
"Without taking a single belonging with her, and ditching her only mode of transportation? And without anyone seeing her? Someone took that girl, Jill."  
  
She sighed, wishing not for the first time that Jimmy had a different job, one that didn't leave him feeling tortured so often. He took on responsibility for the whole town, and she knew he was blaming himself for the missing girl.  
  
Matt and Zach clomped down the stairs into the kitchen, bickering all the way. "Is too!"  
  
"Is not! Mom, Matt says the harvest festival is cancelled because the pumpkins are all growing killer bacteria!" Zach ran to his mother's side, and she pulled him onto her lap.  
  
"Matthew, stop torturing your brother. Of course it's not cancelled, and the pumpkins are fine. What kind of face do you want to carve this year?"  
  
Zach grinned up at her. "Freddy Krueger. With serrated teeth."  
  
The phone rang, and Jill pushed him off of her lap with a laugh as she got up to answer it. Matt took her place at the table, setting back into Zach. "You'll never win the prize for scariest pumpkin with Freddy *Krueger,* he hasn't scared anyone in years. You've got to think fresh! How about O.J. Simpson?"  
  
Zach's eyes lit up. "Yeah! Dad, will you help me carve O.J.? I can attach an arm with a glove on it!"  
  
"No," Jimmy said sternly. "There will be no O.J. Simpson pumpkin. Why can't you just carve a nice happy face? A little good cheer?" The boys rolled their eyes. Jimmy looked over to Jill, who had gone pale and had a nervous look in her eyes.  
  
"It's for you, Jimmy."   
  
She held out the phone, and he searched her eyes as he took it for a hint of what was to come. He listened silently to the deputy on the other end of the line, and resisted the urge to slam the phone onto the table when he hung up. He got up and grabbed his coat and hat. "I've got to go. I'll be back late."  
  
Matt jumped up from the table. "What is it dad?"  
  
Jimmy met Jill's eyes across the room. "They found a body."  
  
*****  
  
Max prided herself on being impassive, and not letting crime scenes rattle her. But she'd never seen anything like this. And she was definitely rattled.  
  
"How...how could this happen?" she whispered, staring at what remained of Sara Cayton. Kenny kneeled down beside her, and as much as she wanted his arms around her she was thankful to him for recognizing her need to feel in control of the situation.  
  
"Someone must've kept her locked up, and not given her any food. Starved her to death." Cops buzzed around them, and camera's flashed over the body. Max turned away slightly, willing her stomach to behave as this morning's breakfast churned. Every bone on the corpse was visible, covered only by a thin translucent netting of what no longer resembled skin. The face was a skull, eye sockets bulging. She'd been laid out with her arms spread wide, a hideous parody of a snow-angel. Red marks about an inch long zigzagged all over her skin and her eyes were wide and staring.  
  
Jimmy came down the small hill that separated the ditch from the highway. Max watched him take the scene in, and he closed his eyes for a moment to compose himself. She stood up, brushing dirt and leaves from her pants. "No tracks anywhere near the body, Jimmy," she told him. "Doesn't look like we have anything more to go on then before."  
  
"Get it wrapped up and give it to Carter." Jimmy paused, and she saw anger in his eyes. "He'll find something. There's gotta be something."  
  
"Okay," she nodded, turning back to Kenny. A high pitch scream pierced the air and she jumped involuntarily. Rich Cayton came tearing down the hill, his eyes wild.  
  
"No! Sara! No!" Kenny grabbed the man's arm and held him back, as Rich began to sob. "No, no, please god, no..." He crumpled over and sank onto his knees, as Max felt her heart ache with his pain. Tears pricked at her eyes, and she saw Jimmy wipe away a few of his own, trying to pretend he had dust in his eye.  
  
"We're gonna get him, Rich," Jimmy said, his voice husky. "We're gonna get this son of a bitch, I promise you that."   
  
Rich crawled forward toward his daughter's body, and reached a trembling hand out. Max bit back a warning to him not to disturb the evidence. His hand fell short and he broke down again, burying his head in his hands.   
  
"We're gonna get him," Jimmy repeated.  
  
*****  
  
Kim turned again, scanning the street behind her for what felt like the tenth time in the past day and a half. She had the eerie feeling of someone's eyes following her, but everyone was going about their own business on the crowded row of shops. She swung the shopping bag containing her purchase - a great new pair of jeans. Her mom would hate them, she was sure of it; they were distressed with tears all up the thighs. Her dad would probably tell her she got ripped off, he didn't understand that new jeans were *supposed* to look old.  
  
Thinking of her dad, she pondered picking up something for him. Maybe some candy or a jazz tape. He'd been so down lately; she knew Sara's disappearance was weighing on him. It was weighing on her, too - she didn't really know the girl, but she knew of her, she went to Kim's school only one year behind her. It was too close for comfort, and the whole school was on edge.  
  
She thought she heard someone calling her name. "I really *am* getting paranoid," she murmured to herself, but turned to look anyway.  
  
"Kim! Kim!" Her friend Lisa weaved through the crowd on the sidewalk, rushing over to her. "Kim! They found her. Your dad and them, they found Sara Cayton." Lisa panted, out of breath.   
  
"Oh god, is she-"  
  
"Dead." Lisa's eyes were wide, a mix of fear, sadness, and adrenaline. "I heard someone say all of her blood had been drained, like she was sacrificed by a satanic cult or something."  
  
Kim tried not to let herself get swept up in the hysteria, she knew there were probably a hundred rumors circulating already. "You don't really believe that."  
  
Lisa shrugged. "Wouldn't be the strangest thing that's happened in this town."   
  
Kim had to agree. "C'mon, let's go to my house. I bet my dad called, so my mom can tell us what's going on."   
  
Lisa nodded and they set off down the street, which was now humming as the news spread. Kim felt a shiver down the back of her neck, and the feeling of eyes fixed on her once again. Shaking it off, she got in her car and headed towards home.  
  
*****  
  
End Chapter 1 


	2. Abduction

Chapter 2  
  
*~*~*  
  
It's always best when the light is off  
  
I am the pick in the ice  
  
Do not cry out or hit the alarm  
  
You know we're friends till we die  
  
*~*~*  
  
"Fascinating, simply fascinating!" Carter Pike said with a little too much enthusiasm as he circled the body.   
  
"Try and contain your enthusiasm," Jimmy said. "What did you find?"  
  
Carter peeled off his latex gloves with satisfied snapping sounds. "She was definitely starved to death. Her body completely consumed all available tissue, until there was nothing left to survive on."  
  
"Is it possible she got lost in the woods? That this was...natural?" Jimmy didn't really believe it was a possibility, but he knew he had to cover all the bases.  
  
"No! See, she was-" Carter caught Jimmy's glare and tried to settle himself down. "She was kept alive *until* she could starve to death. The body can survive for a long time without food, but only a few days without water. Someone took care of her, kept enough water in her to prolong the death. And these cuts across the body, definitely man-made. Looks like from a scalpel or and exacto knife, something precise. See these marks on her wrists? From restraints of some sort, but they're a few weeks old. He must not have needed them after she got too weak to run away."   
  
"Sick bastard," Jimmy muttered. "How long would it take? For her to starve?"  
  
"It can take anywhere between eight to twelve weeks, depending on the size of the person and other variables such as climate and how much water she was getting. But I'd say she's been dead less than 24 hours."  
  
Jimmy thought a minute, putting the pieces together. "He wanted us to find her. He's playing with us, taunting us. But why *starve* her? Why something so difficult and lengthy?"  
  
"Well, it's an extremely painful way to die," Carter answered. "The body adjusts to no food after a few days, but at the end it's prolonged agony as the systems fail slowly."  
  
Dammit, Jimmy thought, trying not to picture Rich Cayton's face earlier in the day. "All right, what else? Prints, hairs, other signs of abuse?"  
  
Carter shook his head. "Nada. No signs of sexual assault, no semen. No fibers either. This guy was careful."  
  
Jimmy looked at the body on the table, hating himself for not finding her sooner. Her hair, which he remembered as shiny, thick and brown, was now sparse and straw-colored. I'm sorry, he thought. I'm so sorry.   
  
"Do you want a full autopsy? I'm certain on cause of death, but it's possible there are toxins in her system. He could've been injecting her with something to keep her calm."  
  
"Do it," Jimmy said, willing himself to look away. Carter nodded and grabbed a fresh pair of gloves. Jimmy walked out into the main room of the station, where all eyes turned to him expectantly.  
  
"We've got a murder here, folks," he said, trying not to look at Cayton's empty desk. "And this is one of our own. We are going full throttle until this bastard is caught; you got that? Everyone's on overtime." The officers nodded and murmured to one another.   
  
"Any idea who we're looking for Jimmy?" Kenny asked.  
  
Jimmy shook his head, wishing he had something, anything to go on. "No suspects, so we've gotta dig deeper. I want everyone who knew Sara Cayton interviewed, we need the names of anybody who could've had a grudge against her or Rick. I know we've been through this before, but we're going to do it again. Old boyfriends, teachers, criminals Rick helped to put away. Everybody. Somebody knows something, and we're gonna shake things up and let it fall out." He hoped he sounded more in control than he felt.   
  
"Okay Jimmy, I'll make a list and assign teams," Max said, already in motion.   
  
Jimmy walked slowly to Cayton's desk and picked up the framed picture of the smiling, loving family. Rich, his wife Linda, Sara and her little brother Rich Jr. The American dream preserved by Kodak, now forever haunted by the skeletal remains that lay in the next room. We're going to get him, he thought to himself for the hundredth time that day. We've got to get him.  
  
*****  
  
"Owwwwww," Max whined as she lowered herself slowly onto the couch. "I hurt all over."  
  
"Yeah, a fourteen hour workday will do that to ya," Kenny said as he sat down next to her. "Want a backrub?"  
  
She grinned at him. "What kind of a question is that?" He grinned back and began massaging her shoulders, and she felt herself loosening and melting under his touch. She yawned, and fought to keep her eyes open. "I'm so tired, I could fall asleep right here. What a day."  
  
Kenny yawned too, before leaning down to drop a kiss on the top her head. "I know. I just wish all that work had done more good...we didn't come up with anything, it's so frustrating."   
  
Max just nodded, too tired to come up with a reply to what she'd been thinking all night herself. Jimmy was doing his best to rally them, but it was hard to hold onto hope. Max was feeling more certain every minute that they wouldn't catch the killer, at least not before he had a chance to strike again. There just wasn't anything to go on.  
  
"What that poor girl must have gone through..." she trailed off, lost in her thoughts as the picture of the corpse came back into her mind. Kenny kept kneading her back; his hands warm through her shirt. "Have you ever thought about it? Which way you'd want to die, if you got to choose?"  
  
"Aww, Max," he sighed. "Don't get morbid on me now, I'm way too tired."  
  
She turned back around to face him. "No, I'm serious. Haven't you ever wondered...like if it would be worse to die slowly or just have it done, like a shot to the head?"  
  
He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to his chest. "It's not something I've put a lot of thought into, but I guess just over and done, so there's no time to think about, no time to really feel the pain." He paused, thinking back to one of the most horrible times of his life. "When I got shot last year - those were the worst few moments of my life, when I thought I was going to die. I thought I'd never get to see you again, and never get to say all the things I needed to say. To feel that way, for just a few seconds, that was hell. I don't think I could handle an hour of that, let alone ten weeks."  
  
Max felt a sob rising in her throat and tried to gulp it back. She settled her head on his shoulder and tried not to remember that night where she'd almost lost him, the night she'd had his blood on her hands. "How about you?" he asked.  
  
"I guess everyone really wants to go in their sleep, when they're old and content. But if it had to be now, and it was starving or getting shot...I don't know. Maybe if I had that time, I could get used to the idea. Prepare myself. Learn not to be so afraid of it."  
  
Kenny raked his fingers through her hair soothingly. "Do me a favor, don't prepare anytime soon. I want you here with me for a long, long time."  
  
Max grinned. "Deal." She yawned and wondered if she had enough energy left to make it to the bedroom. "Kenny...do you ever think we're...I don't know, being punished for something?"  
  
"You have too many thoughts," he said, grinning a little.  
  
"Well one of us has to have a few," she teased. "But I mean, yesterday, before all this started - I was happy. For just a few minutes life was perfect. Why don't we ever get to hang onto that? Why does something bad always happen to take it away?"  
  
He paused, considering. "You were perfectly happy? For a minute?" She nodded. "Then take that with you. Hold onto it in your memory, and be thankful for it. That's all we can do - hold onto the moments we've got."  
  
"That's beautiful Kenny."  
  
"Hey, I've got a few thoughts of my own you know." His fingers were still combing through her hair, trailing gently along her face. "And right now I'm thinking I don't want to get off this couch. When do we have to be awake again? Seven hours?"  
  
"Mmm," she sighed in exhaustion. "Lean back." Kenny lay down on the couch and she moved with him, lying on top of his chest. Max closed her eyes and drifted into sleep, the sound of Kenny's heart beating the sweetest lullaby she'd ever heard.  
  
*****  
  
Jimmy sank back onto his bed, relief singing in his overworked muscles. "I'm getting too old for this."  
  
Jill climbed in under the covers beside him. "You've got to slow down, Jimmy," she said. "Stop being so hard on yourself. You don't have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders."   
  
Jimmy exhaled slowly, wishing he could skip his wife's well-meaning conversation and just go to sleep. "I know, Jill. But I have a responsibility - to this town, to Rich Cayton. To Sara."  
  
"Yes, but you don't have *all* of the responsibility. You have a whole team of cops behind you. And you don't have to take the guilt. You didn't do anything wrong here, you're not the one that hurt that girl."  
  
"Didn't I?" he asked. "Ten weeks, Jill. He had her for ten *weeks*, and I couldn't find her. He plucked her right off the street and kept her, in *my* town and I couldn't..."  
  
Jill frowned, watching the turmoil play across his face. "It's not your fault, Jimmy. You do the best you can. Everyone knows that you give one hundred percent, every day. Nobody blames you; I just wish you could stop blaming yourself."  
  
He sighed and closed his eyes, gathering his thoughts. "This is supposed to be a good town. A safe place, a good place to raise your kids. I used to look around and feel proud that I was a part of that, that Rome was a safer place because of me. And now when I look around, I don't know what to think. Nobody feels safe anymore, and it's only getting worse, every day."  
  
"Things are changing," Jill agreed. "But this is still a good town. Most of the people here are good people, and they want to make this a good place to live. And safety - it's an illusion, it always has been. We've never been safe, not completely. Maybe now we just see that more clearly."  
  
Jimmy reached over to the nightstand and turned off the lamp. "It's not something I ever wanted to see. So much of what I am; it's my job. And if I can't feel like I'm succeeding at it, then what does that make me?"   
  
Jill moved closer to him, draping an arm across his chest. "I don't know, obsessive? You are more than your job, Jimmy. And one dead girl does not make you a failure as Sheriff."  
  
"I know you're right, but it still doesn't change how I feel. The wake is tomorrow, I don't know if I'll be able to look Rich in the eye. I can't help feeling like I failed him. And even worse, I'm no closer to catching this son of a bitch then I was last week, and this guy's not going to just sit back and wait for us. He's going to do it again. He's going to take someone else's kid, and there's nothing I can do about it."  
  
He felt Jill tense up beside him. "Well, you can make sure it's not one of *our* kids. We'll sit them down tomorrow and tell them they're all sticking close to home until this gets solved."  
  
"Kim's going to love that," Jimmy said dryly.  
  
"Kim especially. I'll ground her if I have to."  
  
He thought of his strong-willed daughter and knew she wouldn't take that news well, but he'd gladly have her hate him if it kept her safe. "I could have her tailed again," he offered, only half-joking.  
  
"Ha, she'd probably have you sued." Jimmy closed his eyes, his eyelids heavy. He said a quick prayer in his thoughts, just in case someone was listening.  
  
*****  
  
Kim grimaced as she drove home from school, seething with the unfairness of it all. She was as sad and shaken as anybody by Sara's death, but to be *grounded* because of it? Straight home from school, her parents had told her. And no going out anywhere unless it was with the entire family. Good grief.   
  
She heard a police siren behind her and looked in the rearview mirror to see if she needed to get out of the way. Startled, she realized the cop was waving her over. What for, she wondered, I was barely going a mile above the speed limit. Her heart beat quickly in her chest as she wondered if she was in trouble for something. She'd never been pulled over before.  
  
The cop ambled slowly over to her. Kim saw a car full of boys from her school go by on the quiet street, and prayed that they didn't see her. This was too embarrassing. She rolled down her window as the cop approached. Maybe it would be someone she knew, she did know most of the cops in this town. Probably most of them would let her go without a speeding ticket or a fine for a missing taillight or whatever the problem was.   
  
"License and registration, Miss."   
  
  
  
She squinted up at the officer but couldn't place him. "Is something wrong, officer?" she asked. He was wearing large dark sunglasses that covered a great deal of his thin, small face.  
  
"Please let me see your license and registration," he repeated.   
  
Kim nodded and remembered what her dad had told her about traffic stops, that you had to let the officer know exactly what you were doing or they'd suspect the worst. "I'm going to reach into the glove compartment and my bag to get them, okay?" He nodded, and she fumbled around with sweaty palms to find the identification. She handed them over and he stared at the license for a moment.  
  
"Brock? You the sheriff's kid?" She nodded, hope rising that he'd decide to let her off with a warning for whatever it was she'd done wrong. "Out of the car," he ordered.  
  
"What?" she sputtered. "Why? What did I do?"  
  
He tossed her license and registration back through the window, and his tone got more forceful. "I said out of the car, Miss. Now."  
  
Kim felt her panic rising and she tried to figure out what she possibly could have done to get her in this much trouble. Did he suspect that she had drugs or alcohol in the car? She knew there weren't any, so he'd have to let her go after he didn't find them, she reasoned. Taking deep breathes to calm herself, she got out of the car.  
  
"Over here," he said, taking her arm and walking her around to the other side of the car, away from the side of the road. "Turn and face the vehicle." He pushed her against the car, none to gently, and she thought he was going to frisk her for a weapon. Instead he grabbed her arms and pulled them behind her, snapping handcuffs onto her wrists.  
  
"Hey!" she cried, trying to pull away from his grasp. "You can't do this, I haven't done anything wrong!"   
  
He leaned in close and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end as he whispered in her ear. "Of course you have. All of you have. You're bad, and you need to be punished."  
  
Kim's eyes widened as the situation became clear, and she knew she was in a lot more trouble than a speeding ticket. She thought of the description of Sara Cayton's body she'd read in the morning paper and terror shook through her. "You're not a cop," she said, trying not to sound afraid. "Let go of me." She tried to squirm away, but he had a firm grip on her, and he slammed her back against the car.  
  
"You're mine now, Kimberley. Mine. It's no use trying to escape, I'm never letting you go."   
  
Kim's world spun as her head connected with the car, and she thought she might throw up. "Help!" she screamed as loud as she could, desperately hoping someone in a passing car would hear her. "Help me!"  
  
He laughed, his breath hot against her cheek. "No one's going to save you, Kimberley. Now be a good girl." He put a hand around the back of her neck and squeezed just enough to make her gasp for air. "We're going on a little trip." He started walking her back towards his car, which looked identical to a real police car to Kim. She looked around frantically for anyone passing by who might see her, but the street was quiet, the closest cars a full block away. Besides, she thought, even if anyone saw they'd just think she was under arrest. Getting more scared every second, she ducked and tried to twist away, but he had her upper arms in a vice-like grip. His fingernails dug into her shoulders and she stumbled as he pulled her along.  
  
They reached the back of his car, and he opened the trunk. She knew he was going to put her in it, and she fought with everything she had in a last ditch effort go get away. He easily overpowered her and pushed her down into the trunk. He grinned at her with a look of satisfaction, and then slammed the trunk shut, plunging her into darkness. Kim screamed and let the tears that had been building flow, her sobs echoing in the tiny trunk.  
  
*****  
  
End Chapter 2 


	3. Face to face with a killer

Chapter 3  
  
Warning – this chapter contains strong violence.  
  
*~*~*  
  
And either way you turn  
  
I'll be there  
  
Open up your skull  
  
I'll be there  
  
Climbing up the walls  
  
*~*~*  
  
"She's what? Dammit," Jimmy growled into the phone. "We told her straight home. Where do you think she went, the mall?"  
  
"Jimmy, I'm really worried," Jill said. "It's not like Kim to directly disobey us, and she should have been home hours ago."   
  
He sighed, and tried to reassure her and himself at the same time. "I'm sure she's fine, she's probably just trying to upset us." And it's working, he thought. "I'll have Ginny tell all the units to keep an eye out for her. And when she does come home, she'll *really* be grounded."  
  
  
  
Jill exhaled. "I can't help it, I'm still worried. I keep picturing her dead in a ditch somewhere. Oh god, I've turned into my mother!"   
  
Jimmy tried not to laugh at his wife, knowing she wouldn't share his amusement. "Just try and relax, Jill. I'm sure she'll turn up soon. How are the boys?"  
  
"Still making pumpkin-carving plans. I think they're making stencils of Nixon now."  
  
This time he didn't bother to hold back his laughter. "Well, that is pretty scary." Max walked into his office, and he knew by the look her face that something was very, very wrong. She looked like she'd just been asked to shoot a puppy. "Jill, I'm going to have to call you back, okay? Just sit tight." He hung up and motioned for the deputy to come into his office. Max closed the door and approached his desk tentatively, as if she wanted more than anything to run in the other direction.  
  
"What's wrong, deputy?" he asked, with a sinking feeling in his gut.  
  
Max gulped and stared down at his desk. "Sir, it's...it's your daughter. Ramos and Stanzwick, they found her car by the side of Leesburg Street." She lifted tear-filled eyes to meet his. "Abandoned."   
  
For a second Jimmy felt like the floor had literally dropped out underneath him and he was floating weightless in the air. The shock washed through him and settled; feeling came rushing back into his limbs like a sucker-punch to the gut. He fell back into his chair and stared at Max, speechless.   
  
"I told her to go straight home from school," he said, still hoping that somehow the situation wasn't what it seemed. "This can't be happening, she was just supposed to go right from school to the house."  
  
Max fidgeted, not knowing how to respond. "Leesburg is on the way from the school to your house, that's probably where she was going. There was, uh, they found her license and registration on the passenger seat, and her backpack. Doesn't look like anything's missing."  
  
"Nothing MISSING?" Jimmy stood up, his anger building. "My DAUGHTER is missing, I don't care that he left her wallet!" Max took a step back; Jimmy saw her fear and backed down. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you - I don't know what I'm doing. Max, what am I doing?"  
  
She gulped. "It's only been a few hours. We'll find her, and she's going to be fine. You'll get her back."  
  
Jimmy nodded and tried to get himself under control. "Right. Okay, let's get moving. I want a sweep in a 5 mile radius and a list of Kimberley's contacts cross-listed with Sara Cayton's. They went to the same school...her teacher's! Find out if they have any of the same teachers."  
  
"Yes Sir." He'd thought Max would be off like a shot but she lingered, still looking uncomfortable. "Sir, there's something else. A boy from Kim's school called, asking if she'd been arrested. He said he saw her get pulled over by a cop."  
  
*****  
  
The car rattled along endlessly; Kim gave up counting the seconds when she reached one thousand. She started counting the turns instead, as each one sent her rolling around in the trunk. Her aches and pains were starting to blur together – her head where he'd slammed her up against the car, her hips where they'd banged against the sides of the trunk, her wrists from straining against the handcuffs, and her legs from her futile attempts to kick open the trunk. Her eyes seemed to be all out of tears, even though sobbing noises still came from her throat.  
  
"He's going to kill me," she thought. "He's going to hurt me and kill me and I'll never see mom and dad again." The thought of her parents and her brothers learning she'd been killed overwhelmed her. They would be so sad. She kicked upwards in the dark again, her legs connecting but not budging the trunk.  
  
Finally the car slowed to a stop. She heard him slam the car door shut and walk towards the trunk; her brain worked frantically to come up with some sort of plan. The trunk lid opened and the sudden rush of light made her blink, temporarily blinded. Kim kicked out her legs anyway as fast as she could, praying by some miracle she'd hit him. A hoarse shriek came out of her when she felt him grab her outstretched feet and pull hard, lifting her upper body out of the trunk. He let her drop to the ground and hauled her up by her hair.   
  
"Not nice," he said. "Not smart." He grabbed her arms and began to drag her forward, towards an area she now saw was the woods.   
  
"Please don't hurt me," she begged. "I'll be good, I promise, just please let go of me." Kim hated the pleading she heard in her voice, hated that she'd let him reduce her to this.   
  
He laughed. "You can't be good, Kimberley, you're a whore-child. You have to pay for your sins."  
  
"No," she moaned as she stumbled and fell, momentarily freeing herself from his grasp. He was on her before she could even consider getting away. Kim felt any hope she'd had left slipping away; she'd never be able to overpower him and he wasn't going to let her go. Her only chance was that someone would find her, before it was too late.  
  
*****  
  
"A *cop*? He said he saw her get pulled over by a COP?" Jimmy rose to his feet again, anger coursing through him.  
  
Max gulped. "Yes, but he didn't get a good look at the officer or the car. He was driving past and saw Kim..." Max paused, wishing she didn't have to finish the sentence. "He saw her being held against the car, like she was being searched for a weapon. I figured you'd want to talk to him yourself so I told him to come in, right away. He should be here any minute."  
  
Jimmy nodded, conflicting thoughts racing through his mind. Part of him wanted to fall to the floor and sob, another wanted to find the nearest person and beat the living hell out of them. Then something clicked in his mind about what Max had said – a cop. Kim had been pulled over by a cop.  
  
Max backed out the way as Jimmy came barreling past, out of the office and into the main room of the tiny police station. The officers looked up from their desks; all activity stopped. Jimmy yelled into the silence. "If any of you are responsible for this, if it was any one of you that took my daughter, or were involved in this in any way, I will kill you. If any of you-" A hand on his back stopped him, and the distraction let his grief momentarily win out over his anger, as tears pricked at his eyes again. He let Max and Kenny lead him back into his office.  
  
"Jimmy, it wasn't one of them," Kenny said. "There is no one out there who could do that to you."  
  
Max agreed, "There isn't anyone here who is anything other than loyal to you."  
  
Jimmy sank back into his chair, realizing that they were right. "I want to believe that, and I...I shouldn't have done what I just did. But we can't rule out the possibility. And the thought that someone I know, someone I trust could have Kim, I just..."  
  
"I know," Max said softly as Jimmy trailed off. "Let me see if the witness is here yet.  
  
The urge to collapse overtook him again, and Jimmy longed to embrace his wife. Oh god, he realized. Jill. He'd have to tell Jill what had happened, and the boys. How on earth was he supposed to do that?   
  
Max returned, leading a boy Jimmy recognized as a friend of Kim's from school. He looked nervous, his eyes downcast as Max ushered him to a seat across the desk. "Just tell him what you saw Tim," Max urged.  
  
Tim cleared his throat and began, not quite looking at Jimmy. "I was driving home from school, on Leesburg. I saw two cars by the side of the road, a cop car and an old Lincoln, and I saw Kim. I know her from school; we were lab partners in Chem last year." The boy paused, and Jimmy nodded at him to continue. "So I recognized her car, and I saw that is was her. There was a cop with her; he was holding her against the passenger side of her car. And that's all I saw. I was just driving by."  
  
"It's okay Tim," Jimmy said. "There's no need to be nervous. But I want you to understand – you are the only witness to what may very well be the actions of a serial killer. So we need you to think *very* clearly about what you saw, and not leave out anything, not the slightest detail. Alright?" The boy nodded. "Good. Now, this man, the cop – did you get a good look at him?"  
  
Tim shook his head. "I was just driving by, I'm sorry...he had on sunglasses, really big black sunglasses. That's all I saw."  
  
"How about his race, did you see that?" Jimmy asked.  
  
"Umm, white, I think he was white."  
  
"Good, that's good Tim. How about his height and weight? Can you make an estimate as to those?"  
  
Tim screwed up his face in concentration. "Well, he looked a lot taller than Kim...his head was way above hers. Like at least a foot taller. But I just saw that part of him, the top, so I don't really know about the weight."   
  
Jimmy nodded, and moved on to the most important questions. "How about his uniform? Can you describe that?"  
  
Tim paused for a moment before shaking his head glumly. "I wish I could sheriff, but I didn't get a look at it, I just saw his head for a second with those big sunglasses."  
  
Jimmy sighed. "That's okay, it's not your fault. How about the car? You said you saw a cop car, what kind of markings were on it? Did it say Rome Sheriff's Department?"  
  
  
  
Tim looked miserable. "I didn't really look at it. I just saw it was a cop car...it had the stripes, and the lights on the top, and I didn't look any closer. I just drove by."  
  
Jimmy sank back in his chair and closed his eyes. He knew the kid's statement wouldn't get them anywhere, probably wouldn't even rule out the killer as one of their own. Max had picked up on Tim's guilty feelings and was trying to make him feel better. "You couldn't have known what you were seeing. You didn't do anything wrong."  
  
Jimmy chipped in, "We're very grateful to you for calling it in, and coming down here to give your statement."  
  
Tim didn't look convinced. "I called it in because I thought she got busted for something, I never thought that she..."  
  
"Yeah," Jimmy said. "Me neither." He sighed heavily. "Okay Tim, I'm going to ask you to go with Max now, she'll take you to our sketch artist. He's going to use what you saw to make a picture of the man, and also of his car. Don't embellish anything or make anything up because you feel bad for not seeing enough, just tell him what you saw. All right?" Tim nodded. "Thanks."  
  
Max escorted him out of the office and returned a few moments later, shutting the door behind her. "Jimmy, I know this is a horrible time for you, and I know you don't want to hear this but I feel it's my duty to ask you-"  
  
"You want me to step down, give up the lead on this case," Jimmy cut her off. "You think I'm too close, and you're right, I probably am. But there's no way in hell I'm stepping down. So forget about it."  
  
Max nodded. "Yes Sir."  
  
*****  
  
Kim realized she must have passed out at some point, as she opened her eyes and the days events flooded back to her. The last thing she could remember was falling – this must be where she had landed. She looked around, taking in what appeared to be a tiny, windowless room with cheap plywood walls and a dirt floor. An uncovered light bulb hung from a chain in the middle of the room, burning brightly and making her eyes ache along with the rest of her body.  
  
A quick assessment of her physical condition revealed that the greatest pain was now coming from her arms. They were held above her head by the handcuffs, which were attached to the wall behind her. Her feet just barely touched the floor. Kim looked around again and realized something she'd missed the first time – the room wasn't just windowless, it was doorless.   
  
Panic rose in her at the idea of being left to die here alone, but then she heard a door opening and saw the man drop down from a trapdoor in the ceiling. Her relief was short-lived, the fear returning as he came towards her.   
  
Instead of sunglasses he now had a mask covering his face, an elaborate latex one like costume shops sold for Halloween. It made his face appear green and lumpy, a cartoonish monster with a tuft of raggedy black hair. He leered at her through the small eyeholes and when he spoke his voice sounded muffled and somehow distant. "Did you sleep well, Kimberley?" he asked, leaning in close against her.  
  
She nodded, sensing he was being sarcastic but not wanting to risk upsetting him. It didn't work. He slapped her hard across the face and she gasped, the sting bringing fresh tears to her eyes. "You have to learn some respect, girl," he spat. "You answer yes Sir or no Sir, you don't stand there with that dumb look and nod your filthy little head at *me*. You understand?"  
  
"Y-yes Sir," she stammered.  
  
"Good. This will go a lot better once we get to understand each other." He petted her still stinging cheek with the back of his hand, almost affectionately. Kim didn't dare try to duck away – it wasn't like she could get very far anyway. It seemed best to just try and do what he wanted, to play along and not make him angry. But then his hand moved down from her face and went up under her shirt, and she couldn't help but give out a little cry.  
  
"Now now," he said, like a doctor soothing a young patient. His hand rubbed gentle circles across her bare stomach. Kim held her breath and tried to convince herself that she was alright, that this would all be over soon if she could just get through it. His hand moved higher, rubbing her breasts through the fabric of her bra. She willed herself not to move as he began to rub harder, grabbing one of her breasts and twisting it painfully.  
  
"Why are you doing this?" she asked, the words carrying a desperate edge.  
  
"It's for your own good," he answered. His face was only inches from hers, and she could see his lips moving through the hole in the mask. "I'm going to make you clean, Kimberley. I'm going to cleanse you of your sin. It will be painful, but you'll be better for it."   
  
I'll be dead for it, she thought. "Is that what you did to Sara?" she asked, her voice shaking.   
  
He sighed, and Kim worried that she might have made him angry again, but he seemed more depressed than upset. "Sara was not cooperative. She was not willing to change, to release her sins, and so I could not save her. It is my deepest hope that you will not prove similarly...disappointing. I do not want to fail again."   
  
Kim breathed a sigh of relief as he moved his hand out from under her shirt. "Now, it's time to get started," he said. She saw the glint in his eyes behind the mask and wondered what was coming, the sick feeling growing in her stomach. "You just wait for one minute."   
  
He jumped up and pulled his body through the trapdoor, disappearing and shutting it behind him. Kim realized that even if she could somehow get out of the handcuffs she would still be stuck in the room – there was no inner handle on the door and it was too high up for her to get to, even if she jumped. "Please," she whispered. "Please, somebody, find me."  
  
The door swung open again and he returned, carrying a small toolkit and the front end of a garden hose with a spray nozzle attached. She could tell that the water was already running into it; the pressure hissed in the hose and a few drops leaked out around the nozzle. "Now then," he said cheerfully. "Down to business." He reached into the toolkit and brought out a sharp blade, a precision cutting tool like a giant exacto knife. The inch-long blade gleamed in the sharp light.   
  
Kim's breath caught in her throat as he came at her with it. "Please," she begged, twisting her body against the wall. "Please..."  
  
"Shh, hold still," he said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Kim squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the pain of the blade cutting into her, but all that came was the sound of tearing fabric. She looked down to see that he was cutting her shirt open, splitting it down the center. He finished and pulled it off of her, then cut the straps of her bra, nicking her shoulders. Kim tried not to feel ashamed as he pulled the bra off, watching his eyes crawling over her skin. He knelt down on the ground in front of her to pull her shoes and socks off and then stood again to unzip her pants.  
  
After he pulled them off she waited for him to finish with her underwear, but he stopped and left them on, which she decided to count as a good thing. She started making a list of good things in her head in an effort to keep herself from completely breaking down.   
  
She wasn't ready for it and screamed in both shock and pain when he cut her, quick and deep across her stomach. Blood welled and started to run down her body in a crimson stream, dripping down her legs and onto the floor. Kim felt lightheaded and her head dropped, hanging limply against her chest. His hand cupped her chin and lifted her head back up, locking eyes with her as he cut again. He made a slow, careful line down her chest from the tip of her collarbone to the rise of her breasts. The pain made her dizzy, her vision blurred till she saw two of the monstrous faces in front of her.   
  
He dipped his finger into the cut, pulling the skin apart slightly and covering his finger with her blood. He thrust it at her face, accusingly. "You see? Filthy. I can see your sin in your blood, your filth, it reeks of it." He wiped the blade off and returned it to the toolkit; Kim panted with relief as it vanished from her sight.   
  
"I can remove your sin, Kimberley, if you truly want to change. I can save you if you'll let me." He picked up the hose and pressed the handle on the nozzle; Kim screamed as she was showered with a powerful blast of icy cold water. He doused her from the top of her head down to her toes. The force of the water washed the blood off, leaving it to settle into the muddy dirt floor. But the wounds hadn't clotted yet and more blood pumped out to crawl down her wet skin.  
  
He frowned at her, then said "We'll have to leave that be for now, I'll come back and take care of it later. Now you get some rest and do some reflecting. Think about how you want to change."  
  
"Yes Sir," she choked out. He disappeared out the trap door and she leaned back against the wall, her body hanging as far down as the handcuffs would let her. Shivering and overwhelmed with pain, her vision faded as unconsciousness claimed her again.  
  
*****  
  
End Chapter 3 


	4. Working on Instincts

Author's Notes: Wow, I never expected such a great response! Thanks to all of you who reviewed, your encouragement means so much to me. You definitely made me work harder - I spent almost every spare second I had this week writing! I am going to do my best to update once a week, but please be patient with me, I'm a slow writer. It took me over a month to write those first three chapters. Sam: thanks for letting me know about the spelling!  
  
Chapter 4  
  
*~*~*  
  
It's always best when the light is off  
  
It's always better on the outside  
  
Fifteen blows to the back of your head  
  
Fifteen blows to your mind  
  
*~*~*   
  
Jimmy knew he should have stayed with Jill, but he couldn't. He had called and met her at the house to tell her the news, and she had screamed and beat her fists against his chest and sobbed. Then she had turned off, like a switch was flicked, and she didn't do or say anything. She just stared at him, or through him. He couldn't take it and had fled back to the office, leaving his wife blank and motionless on the couch.  
  
The office was bustling, everyone moving about purposefully and checking in with him constantly. But it was a great waste of energy. They had nothing. A witness who caught a glimpse of a white man with sunglasses and a hundred dead ends on connections between Kim and Sara. Every teacher at the high school had an alibi; most of them were still on school grounds at the time Kim was taken.   
  
Nothing had turned up and they were running out of places to look. The FBI was making threatening noises to take over the case. Jimmy didn't close his eyes anymore, because when he did his mind filled with the image of his daughter starved to the bone and cold as ice. He was unraveling at the seams.   
  
Ginny called to him across the din of the office, "Your wife is on line three, says she has a theory." Jimmy sighed, not sure he wanted to know where Jill's imagination was going. He was glad that she had snapped out of her trance-like state, though.   
  
"Hi honey. How are you doing?" There was silence for a moment, as he figured Jill was thinking something along the lines of, how the hell do you think I'm doing?  
  
"Jimmy, I thought of something," she said in a breathless rush. "Kim mentioned something to me about a week ago, that there was this strange man at the school. One of the janitors. She said she thought he was following her around and that the way he looked at her made her feel uncomfortable. He'd know what time she left the school, he could be the guy."  
  
Jimmy thought it over and replied, "We'll check it out. But please, honey, don't get your hopes up. It's just another shot in the dark, and we've already ruled out most of the faculty and staff at the school."  
  
"I know, I know, but I just have this feeling. Kim was really unnerved by him; I was going to write a letter to the school." Her voice took on a hysterical edge. "Oh god, why didn't I write the letter? Why didn't I go straight down there and get that man out of the building? What's wrong with me?"  
  
He heard her start to cry. "Jill, listen to me, this is not your fault. And we have no idea if this is the guy or not. Try to stay calm. Do you know his name?"  
  
She cleared her throat. "Hutchins. Jack Hutchins. Jimmy, you've got to stop him, you've got to find her. I can't handle this, I can't..." she broke off, unable to hold back her sobs.  
  
"I know. I'm sorry." He could hear her anguish, and it made his heart ache. "We're doing the best we can, but...this is good, this gives us something else to look into." He paused, not wanting to ask the question but needing to know the answer. "Are the boys home?"  
  
"Yes, I went and got them from baseball as soon as I came back to my senses. I snapped out of it and realized I needed to see them right then and hold them in my arms." Thinking about his sons Jimmy was overwhelmed with the same need, the desire to see them safe and whole with his own eyes. "I didn't tell them everything, but Matthew put it together. They're...they're doing as well as they can. They're trying. I'm afraid I'm not much help." She gave a short, bitter laugh. "Keep talking to me, alright? Don't forget about us."  
  
"I'll call you as soon as I know anything," he said. "I promise. I love you."  
  
*****  
  
"Hutchins? He's...well, he's not my favorite guy, but he's not a psychopath or anything. Does his job, keeps to himself." Max noted the janitor's statements, jotting down quick notes. So far all of Hutchins' coworkers - and now his boss - seemed to have a dislike for the man but no specific complaints.  
  
"Have you ever seen him looking at the female students or addressing them in an inappropriate manner?" she asked.  
  
The janitor looked uncomfortable. "Not exactly...Jack looks at everyone a little strange, he's just got a creepy way about him. Might've upset some of the students. But I don't think he ever means anything by it, it's just the face god gave him. The boy wasn't blessed with looks, or a heap of brains. But he does alright."  
  
Max nodded, sensing the man's reluctance to badmouth one of his employees. "When you say a creepy look, what exactly do you mean?"  
  
He shifted in his chair. "Nothing in particular, he just sort of stares. Like I said, I don't think it's his fault, but when Jack looks you in the eye it's a bit unsettling. I was in the cafeteria once, and I saw he was staring at a girl across the room. She saw him looking at her and nearly jumped out of her skin. But he didn't *do* anything."  
  
Max's instincts were telling her that Hutchins wasn't a good guy, that he might be *the* guy. "Does he have a work area, a place where he spends most of his time?"  
  
"Well, we work all around the building, on rotations. But we've got a little office set up, down next to the boiler room. Want me to take you down there?"  
  
"Please," she said. He led her down to the school's basement, into a closet sized cinderblock office with a single desk and a row of lockers.   
  
"There's not really much down here," he said. "Just some time sheet records and maintenance schedules, that sort of thing." Max walked over to the lockers. They had places to attach combination locks, but none were affixed.   
  
"Is one of these Jack's?" she asked.   
  
"Yeah, that second one from the end," he said. "But the guys don't really keep stuff in there, just their coats and such while they're working."  
  
She opened the locker door, with that knowing feeling in the pit of her stomach she got when a case was about to unfold. She just knew, somehow, there would be something in there. But the door clanged open to reveal only a blank space with a pair of old work boots on the bottom shelf. Max exhaled, disappointed. She was about to close the door when she noticed there was something odd about the top shelf. The back of it was matte instead of metallic, although it matched the rest of the locker in color. She reached back and sure enough it was a carefully placed sheet of cardboard, concealing a man's secrets behind it.  
  
The janitor peered over her shoulder. "What's that?" he asked.  
  
Max smiled grimly. "That's an arrest warrant for Jack Hutchins."  
  
*****  
  
Jimmy pounded on the door of an aging, pre-fab house. The door opened to the length of the security chain and wary eyes peered out. Assault rifles locked into place as the police force flanking Jimmy readied for a confrontation. "Jack Hutchins, this is the Rome County Sheriff's Department. Come out with your hands up."   
  
The door slammed shut. "Go!" he yelled and the team charged, breaking down the door and chasing the figure sprinting away inside. Kenny led the pack and took the fleeing man down before he could reach the back staircase.   
  
"I didn't do anything!" Hutchins shrieked as Kenny cuffed him and read him his rights. "This is a mistake, I didn't do anything wrong!"  
  
Jimmy stood over him. "We found your little picture collection, Jack. Possessing child pornography is illegal." The color drained from Hutchins' face. Jimmy knelt down close and stared him down. "Now where's my daughter, you sick son of a bitch?"  
  
Hutchins looked terrified. "I don't have her, I swear! I'd never hurt anybody! I just have those pictures because...I just look at them, I didn't take them. I'd never hurt anyone!"  
  
Max came back up from the basement holding an old shoebox. "Jimmy, we found these downstairs, under the steps." She held up a large blade, the edge stained with blood. "There are nine of them, all varying sizes."  
  
Hutchins continued to try to squirm away from where Kenny held him pinned to the floor. "I don't know where the hell your daughter is, let go of me!"  
  
Jimmy punched him in the jaw. Hard. Hutchins laid still, a trickle of blood starting to form at the corner of his mouth. Jimmy got up, expressionless. He could feel the eyes of his deputies staring after him but he didn't say anything. He didn't have anything to say.  
  
*****  
  
Jimmy saw Wambaugh standing outside the courtroom, preparing. Jimmy hadn't slept in over a day and the sight of the lawyer set off his short fuse. "How can you do this?" he yelled. "I know you have no conscience, but until today I thought you had a heart! Kim thinks of you as a grandfather, and you're defending the bastard who kidnapped her, who still has her somewhere!"  
  
Wambaugh looked taken aback. "Jimmy, you know how much I care for Kim, and how much I am praying for her safe return. But this is not the man who has her. And the sooner you realize that the sooner you can go back to looking for the real bastard!"  
  
"This is the guy, you lunatic!" Jimmy's face was red, his blood pumping wildly in his ears.  
  
"I'm not going to finish this conversation now, as I'm afraid you may feel the need to sock me in the jaw," Wambaugh huffed. "You'll hear it in court." He stomped into the courtroom, leaving Jimmy to seethe in his anger. Hutchins was led past him into the courtroom and the two men exchanged glances of pure hatred. Jimmy followed him inside and took a seat next to Jill.  
  
"All rise," the bailiff called as Judge Bone entered. "Be seated."  
  
Wambaugh stood up and began. "Waive reading, your honor, and ask that all charges be dropped on account of illegal search and seizure!" Murmurs of surprise rippled through the courtroom. Jimmy turned to look at Max, who had turned white as a sheet and was sitting rigidly in the seat next to him. Oh shit, he thought.  
  
"Your honor, Deputy Stewart found the pornographic pictures by illegally searching Jack Hutchins' locker without his knowledge, permission, or any reasonable cause. The warrant for his arrest should therefore never have been issued, and everything that was found in the locker or the house must be thrown out."  
  
"Deputy Stewart," Judge Bone called. "Is this true?"  
  
Max rose shakily to her feet, twisting her hands nervously. "I opened the locker – which was not locked in any way – with the permission of Mr. Hutchins' boss and based on suspicions that arose from questioning his coworkers."  
  
"And what exactly raised these suspicions?" Judge Bone asked.  
  
Jimmy's heart seemed to stop beating as he held his breath, hoping desperately that Max had a good answer. "All of his coworkers expressed a dislike of Mr. Hutchins. They described him as creepy, and said that he sometimes stared at the female students."   
  
Judge Bone sighed heavily, and Jimmy knew it was over. "Deputy, being disliked by one's coworkers does not make probable cause for the search of personal property. You messed up, and you have no evidence against Mr. Hutchins that did not directly result from the illegal search. I wish to god that I didn't have to do this, but I have no choice. Mr. Hutchins, you are free to go."  
  
The courtroom buzzed around him but Jimmy didn't hear anything. He couldn't move from his chair. Max remained standing next to him, apparently also frozen in shock. Jill shook him violently, stirring him back to life. "Jimmy! DO something! He's walking out of here!" The bailiff had removed Hutchins's handcuffs and he was striding confidently out of the courtroom. "You can't just let him walk away!"  
  
Jimmy looked at her, never feeling more helpless in his life. "I have to," he said softly. "There's nothing I can do."  
  
Max turned to him, still looking stunned. "Sir, I don't know what to say, I-"  
  
"Then don't," he said coldly. "Don't say anything." He got up and pushed his way out of the courtroom, dimly aware of Jill following behind him. He saw Wambaugh in the hallway and charged towards him, but Wambaugh saw him coming and raised his arms to hold Jimmy off.  
  
"Jimmy, wait. I didn't get to say it in there, on account of your deputy's incompetence making it unnecessary. But I have proof that Hutchins isn't the killer. He has an air tight alibi for the day Sara Cayton disappeared – he was in the hospital with pneumonia."  
  
"But," Jimmy sputtered. "But he had those pictures and the blades-"  
  
"The blades are whittling tools; he carves these adorable little figurines." Wambaugh reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny wooden chipmunk. "Cute, isn't it?"  
  
"But the blood..."  
  
"His own," Wambaugh answered. "Just on that one blade, if you'll remember. A little carving accident."  
  
Jimmy shook his head, still not believing that this could be right, that Hutchins didn't have his daughter. "The pictures?"  
  
"Well, I didn't say he was a *good* guy," Wambaugh said, shrugging his shoulders. "But he's not the guy who has Kim, or I never would have defended him. Now please, Jimmy, go find her. Bring her home."  
  
*****  
  
"Oh god, Kenny..." Max paced back and forth in her living room, still processing what had happened at the court house.   
  
"Max, it's okay. You heard what Wambaugh had; no matter how the search went down there never would've been a conviction." He put his arms around her comfortingly. "Even Jimmy thinks this was the wrong guy."  
  
Max buried her head into his chest. "He's so mad at me. If it really had been Hutchins, I..."  
  
"You made a mistake, it happens. He'll get over it. The important thing is that we get back in there and help. There's four cops assigned to tail Hutchins, if it really is him he's not getting away. But we've got to keep looking."  
  
She lifted her head and nodded, hoping she could get herself under control enough to keep it together at the office. "I know. I hate seeing him like this, watching all the pain he's going through. Punching Hutchins, that's so unlike Jimmy."  
  
"He though the guy had Kim, of course he decked him."  
  
Max knew Kenny would have hit Hutchins himself if he'd had the chance; his tendency towards violence was a sticking point in both their professional and private relationship. "But that's not the point. He's not acting like himself, Kenny. I understand why but it's still a problem. He's the Sheriff...we both know he shouldn't be running this case."  
  
"Given what happened today, I don't think that's something you want to bring up again just now."  
  
Max pulled away from him. "I wasn't saying that I should run it, just that Jimmy shouldn't," she said indignantly.  
  
"I know. But you still can't say it." She turned and walked away from him, annoyed. "Look, Max," he said. "We both know it wouldn't matter anyway, he's not going to back off the case."  
  
She shook her head, frustrated. "Let's just get back to the station."  
  
They rode over to the office, Max still berating herself for making yet another stupid mistake. She knew her instincts were good and she had the rulebook memorized cover to cover, the problem was that she sometimes got so caught up in following her instincts that she forgot about the rules. And this time her actions could have set free the man who had Kim.  
  
Sprits were down at the office; Hutchins release and the apparently exonerating evidence had all but set the investigation back to square one. Jimmy walked past Max's desk a few times without acknowledging her. She knew Kenny was right and that he would forgive her, but it was going to take some time. Max felt more compelled than ever to come up with something that would help find Kim. She had almost blown it, but now she had another chance to get it right. To prove that she was a good cop and to save the life of a friend.  
  
Across the room she saw Carter talking to Jimmy. "Don't be discouraged," Carter said to him, "it's only been a few days. This guys MO is actually quite beneficial, you have at least nine more weeks to find her!" Max almost laughed. Poor Carter, she thought, he always meant well and still managed to get it so wrong. Jimmy was staring at him, at a complete loss for words. He looked like he wanted to yell but didn't know where to begin. Finally Jimmy shook his head and walked away, leaving Carter to wonder what he'd done wrong. As Max watched Carter give up and walk away she glanced at Rich Cayton's empty desk and felt the pieces start to move together in her head.  
  
"Kenny!" she called and he turned around at his desk to look at her. "We've been looking at the links between Kim and Sara, right? But we didn't look at the links between their parents – the links between Jimmy and Rich." She grew more excited as it fell into place. "This guy is impersonating cops and kidnapping the daughters of cops. He probably wanted to *be* a cop. I bet if we look for someone who failed police training, we'll find him."  
  
*****  
  
End Chapter 4 


	5. Nightmares

Author's Note: Eep, sorry this is so late! I promise I'll try to get the next chapter out faster. But you want quality over speediness, right? ::grin:: I actually had this ready yesterday, but fanfiction.net wouldn't let me post it. If you want updates as soon as they're ready, please go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pennipotens_updates/ and join my mailing list. I promise you'll just get new chapters and nothing else. Thanks again for the reviews, keep 'em coming!   
  
Chapter 5  
  
Warning – this chapter contains strong violence.  
  
*~*~*  
  
So lock the kids up safe tonight  
  
Put the eyes in the cupboard  
  
I've got the smell of a local man  
  
Who's got the loneliest feeling  
  
*~*~*  
  
He came for her in her nightmares, blades out and dripping with blood. Unconsciousness provided no escape and left her only more tired and afraid. Reality swam between the murkiness of her dreamscape; when Kim opened her eyes she wasn't sure if she was truly awake. She blinked to bring the room into focus, the sight of the stark light bulb spattered with blood coming to her at the same time the smell of her own sweat and urine registered in her brain. She looked down at her body and fought nausea at the sight of the matted blood covering it.  
  
Kim was exhausted, more deeply tired than she could ever recall being in her life. It dulled everything else, the pain and fear a quiet roar somewhere in the back of her head. She let her head hang limply, almost thankful for the heavy blanket of lethargy that kept her thoughts and feelings blurry and distant. She knew that if she didn't get out of here, if someone didn't find her in time, the man was going to kill her. But the dizzy nothingness kept her from panicking.  
  
She didn't hear the trapdoor open or the man dropping down into the room over the sound of her blood rushing in her ears. He appeared out of nowhere before her and for a moment Kim thought she was still asleep, still dreaming, but when he lifted his arm it held only a glass of water. He stroked her cheek tenderly and then cupped her chin with his hand, lifting her head.  
  
"Drink," he ordered, and she dutifully opened her mouth. He poured the water down her raw and aching throat; the excess dripped down her body as she choked on it. He wiped her mouth like she was a small child. The water revived her a bit, lifting some of the fog from around her thoughts as it soothed her throat. He was wearing a new mask, she noticed, another Halloween costume. This one gave him scaly flesh and bulbous deformations.  
  
"Why do you always hide your face from me?" she asked, the question out of her mouth before she had a chance to stop herself.   
  
He slapped her, the sting by now a familiar sensation. "Speak when spoken to, girl," he said gruffly. Her eyelids were heavy, begging to be closed, her body fighting to fall back asleep. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her, making the dizziness increase. "Pay attention!" His breath was hot on her face.  
  
"I'm trying! But I'm tired. Please, I'm tired..." Kim wasn't even sure what she was asking for. "Please, I don't know what you want from me."  
  
He cocked his head sideways as if she confused him. "I told you before, I want to help you. Make you better." He pulled back a bit and she gulped heavily of air that didn't taste of him. "You think that you can get away with it, that it doesn't matter. But you can't. No one can. It's not allowed, and you can't break the rules." He sounded like a nursery school teacher lecturing toddlers about hair pulling.  
  
"I don't understand, what rule? What did I do wrong?" Kim knew this was important, worth the risk of asking. He laughed so loudly it startled her, her body jumping involuntarily as far as the chains would allow.  
  
"So stupid," he said, his tone dripping with condescension. "How have they raised you, that you don't even know? You are impure in thought and deed and you don't even recognize your own defilement. You have had..." – he seemed repulsed by the very words – "carnal knowledge of a man. You have let men take your body like a common whore."  
  
The nature of the man's psychosis started to become clear to Kim. He had been taught that sex was wrong, she figured, and he couldn't resolve his own desires with that belief. And so he was punishing girls who did follow their desires. She considered how to respond, knowing that it was useless to try and reason with him. "You're right, I, I sinned. I see now that it was wrong. But I only did it once, and I've changed my ways, I haven't done it again."  
  
She let out a cry of surprise when he lunged at her, one hand pinning her head back against the wall as the other gripped her right breast fiercely, his nails digging painfully into her flesh. He growled into her ear, his voice low and menacing. "Don't lie to me, girl. It's still all over you. You haven't changed. I know what you want, what you crave. It's on your skin."  
  
"Please," she whimpered as his grip on her tightened. "Stop, you're hurting me." The scar covering the cut on her chest broke open from the movement; fresh blood crawled down her. She cried in both disgust and pain when she felt his tongue against her skin, rough like sandpaper as he slowly licked the oozing wound. He brought his face back up even with hers again; she could see her own blood on his lips and staining the edges of his mask.   
  
"I know what you want," he said again as she shook her head in protest. Kim knew things were spiraling in the wrong direction, her worst fears confirmed when he reached down and ripped her underwear off violently. "You'd like that, wouldn't you, to infect me with your sickness?" Hold on, she thought to herself desperately, just hold on. "But I'm too smart for that, whore. I *will* cleanse you. I will drain every drop of your poisoned blood."  
  
His eyes were wild behind the mask, lit with an insane fire. He produced a blade from a dark corner of the room, and her fevered nightmares came to life as he once again advanced on her with it. "I will bleed the heart of the devil himself that lives inside you." Kim closed her eyes and prayed.  
  
*****  
  
Lisa, Tim, and two of Kim's other friends sat in the Brock's kitchen with Jill, Zack and Matt. It was a school day but they had all stayed home, hoping for some news and needing the support of each other. Jill had tried to distract the kids by getting them to play Monopoly and putting out a plate of freshly baked cookies, but they had given up on the game after a few minutes of half-hearted play. It sat abandoned on the table alongside the untouched plate of cookies.  
  
"Come on, Zach," Jill said, pushing the plate towards him. "You've hardly eaten anything all day. They're your favorite, double chocolate chip."  
  
Zach slumped down onto the table, resting his head on his arms. "Kim doesn't have cookies. She doesn't have any food at all. It's not fair for me to have them."  
  
Jill swallowed back the sobs in her throat; they had never really gone away since the ordeal began three days ago. "Do you think that's what Kim would want, for you not to eat? She wouldn't want you to be unhappy, honey." Jill realized she was talking in the past tense. "If she was here."   
  
"But she's not here," Zach said plaintively. "Why can't dad find her? He should have found her by now."   
  
The teenagers squirmed uncomfortably, keeping their eyes downcast. Jill forced herself to sound upbeat. "Come on now, no one's giving up. Your dad and the rest of the police, the whole town, everyone is doing everything they can. Kim is going to come home; they're going to find her. And when she does she's going to be very upset if you let a whole plate of cookies go to waste."   
  
  
  
Zack looked like he was about to cry. "I can't mom, I can't. My heart hurts too much." He broke down, the tears pouring down his small face as he sobbed hysterically. Jill couldn't hang on any longer and cried with him, her tears mingling with his as she hugged him tightly.  
  
"Come on boys," she choked out, pulling Matt into her embrace. Let's go sit outside for a minute."  
  
Lisa wiped away her own tears as the grieving family left the room. "Do you think she really believes that?" she asked, her voice unsteady. The others were silent, no one wanting to admit to their fears and doubts. "I can't stop thinking about what she might be going through, what he might be doing to her." Lisa's voice broke as her emotions overwhelmed her. "And I keep thinking how grateful I am that it's her and not me. I'm a terrible person, I'm a terrible friend."  
  
Tim put his arm around her comfortingly. "No, you're not. It's normal to feel that way. I bet every teenage girl in this whole town is feeling that way, and their parents too."  
  
"But she's my best friend," Lisa sobbed. "She's a good person, she never hurt anybody. This isn't supposed to be happening; she never did anything to deserve this."  
  
They all jumped when the phone rang, too startled to answer it. Tim finally jumped up and grabbed it. "Brock residence," he said breathlessly, holding his breath as he wished for good news. His face fell as he listened, the momentary optimism gone. "No, nothing new today Mrs. Coleman. Yes, I'll tell her. Thanks." He slumped back into his seat. "She wants to give her condolences to Mrs. Brock." He picked up a Monopoly plastic house and angrily pushed it across the table. "Everyone's acting like she's already dead."  
  
Lisa glared at him. "You make it sound like it's only a matter of time until she *is* dead. That's not any better."  
  
"I..." Tim didn't know what to say.   
  
The teenagers lapsed into silence until Lisa picked up the dice and started the game again. "Marvin Gardens, I'll buy it."  
  
*****  
  
Max held up a file triumphantly. "I knew it! Jason Porter failed the police academy twice, once in '89 and again in '92. Worked as a security guard for Wisconsin Savings and Loan until he was fired six months ago for use of 'unnecessary excessive force.'"  
  
Kenny looked at her skeptically. "So he fits your profile, but how does that connect him to Kim or Sarah? No judge is going to give you a warrant with that."  
  
"I know that," Max said, her face set with determination. "But I don't need to get one, there's an outstanding warrant out for him on a 336."  
  
Kenny moved in closer, leaning over her shoulder to look at the file. "336 – what's that, overdue parking tickets? This warrant is from three months ago, no one's been able to locate him or his checkbook in that long. How are you planning on finding him?"  
  
Max slammed the file shut in annoyance. "Would you stop second guessing me? I made a mistake, I'm not pathologically stupid."  
  
"Hey, I didn't mean it like that. You're anything but stupid, Max. You did a great job picking this guy out."  
  
She relented and smiled a little to let him know she wasn't really mad. "Thanks. But you're right...I have no idea how to find him." She sighed in frustration.  
  
Kenny put a hand on her shoulder, wanting to hug her but knowing that she was sensitive about showing affection with him at work. "Well, I doubt anybody's been looking very hard. His house probably hasn't been checked since the warrant was first issued, it could be that easy."  
  
Max nodded and sprang out of her chair. "Worth checking, anyway." She paused. "Should we tell Jimmy?"  
  
Kenny thought it over, remembering Jimmy's behavior at the Hutchins' arrest and his defeated expression at this morning's staff meeting. "Let's not get his hopes up again. We'll keep it quiet, just you and me can go over there and look for him." Max nodded, grabbing a copy of the warrant and her trooper's hat as they ducked out of the office.  
  
Porter's house wasn't a rundown shack like Hutchins', but a well maintained family-sized home that blended seamlessly into Rome's suburban landscape. Max felt a chill run down her spin as she thought of what might be hiding behind the façade.   
  
Kenny rapped loudly on the door. It swung open as a male voice called "Who is it?" Could it possibly be this easy, Max wondered? The man's eyes widened as he took in their uniforms.  
  
"Jason Porter?" Max asked. He nodded slowly, eyes wary. "Mr. Porter, we have a warrant for your arrest due to your refusal to remit payment for $5500 in parking tickets and related fines."  
  
Porter reddened. "Oh god, I didn't think it would ever come to anything like this." He laughed nervously. "They're just parking tickets. I was going to pay, really, but I lost my job and cash has been tight, this house is a real money pit. You don't really have to arrest me, do you? Here, I'll pay right now, let me go get my checkbook."  
  
He stepped back into the house, giving Max and Kenny a clear view through the wide open doorway. They both immediately saw, lying on the floor, what looked like a dead ringer for a Rome County Sheriff's Officer badge. "Probable cause," Kenny murmured.  
  
Max wasn't taking any chances. "Mr. Porter, do you mind if we take a look around?"   
  
She heard him tearing out a check. "Sure, sure!" he said, clearly nervous. They watched as he came back to the door with the check, trying to surreptitiously kick the badge under the sofa as he walked past it. A bead of sweat trickled down his pale, thin face.  
  
Max entered the house with her handcuffs out and ready. Kenny retrieved the badge while she moved to arrest Porter. He dropped the check, the sound of it falling to the floor loud in the eerie silence. "You're under arrest for the suspected murder of Sara Cayton, the suspected kidnapping of Kimberly Brock, and for impersonating a police officer. You have the right to remain silent." Porter stood still while she handcuffed him and read him his rights. Kenny began searching the rest of the house, pulling open drawers and picking through closets. He returned with a police officer's uniform on a hanger, neatly pressed.  
  
Porter was sweating profusely now. "That's a Halloween costume! I know I screwed up, and I'm not supposed to have that badge, but I swear it was just for fun! I always wanted to be a cop, and I have this friend who works in the supply room. That's all I did!"  
  
"Funny, but for some reason I don't believe you," Kenny said as he grabbed the man's arm and lead him out to the car. Max followed, amazed at how quickly the situation had turned around once again. An hour ago they had nothing, and now they had a suspect in custody. Now, she thought, let's just hope I got it right this time.  
  
*****  
  
Jimmy had been mad at Max and Kenny for going behind his back, but his gratitude at having a suspect again quickly took priority. Porter's initial fearful reaction had worried him – Max had filled him in on it, clearly nervous about bringing in another wrong lead. Sadistic, methodical serial killers rarely reacted to an arrest with outright terror. But Porter's demeanor had changed; Jimmy assessed him through the glass wall of the interrogation room. Porter appeared cool and collected. Dangerous. Jimmy's muscles were taught, his guts coiled with pent up rage and a wild, desperate hopefulness. He didn't know if he could handle another dead end.  
  
Jimmy entered the room, slamming the door behind him. Porter didn't flinch. "Where'd you get the uniform, Jason?"  
  
The handcuffed man glared at him. "Same place you got yours. Uniform supply store, $29.95 plus shipping."  
  
"And the badge?"  
  
Porter's gaze didn't waver. "Like I said before, from a friend in the supply room. And don't waste your breath asking, I'm not going to rat him out. He was doing me a favor."  
  
It took all of Jimmy's reserve not to lean over the table and choke the sneer off of Porter's face. The battle of wills continued for nearly an hour, with Porter's icy veneer never cracking. Jimmy couldn't trap him in a lie or get him to admit to anything besides neglecting to pay the parking tickets and illegally obtaining the badge.  
  
"So you were home alone all day when Sara Cayton disappeared, and again on the day when my daughter was taken – bit of a loner, huh?"  
  
Porter shrugged, unmoved. "I like my privacy. There a law against that?"  
  
"You've been through the police academy, you tell me." Jimmy thought this might bait him, but Porter's expression didn't change. "How many times have you left your house at all in the past ten weeks, Jason?" He didn't answer, continuing to stare straight at Jimmy. "Besides this helpful friend you have in our department, do you ever talk to anyone at all? Ever see your family?"  
  
"My family isn't the issue, Sheriff," Porter said, his cold tone now slightly mocking. "Yours is. Now, you could choose to hold me for the badge and the parking tickets, even though I've already tried to pay for them. But if you really believe that I have your daughter that would be pretty foolish of you."  
  
Jimmy's heartbeat quickened. "And why is that?"  
  
The edges of Porter's mouth turned up in a cruel smile. "She needs water to survive, she won't last more than a few days without it. Whoever has her needs to be able to get that water to her."  
  
*****  
  
It hurt to breathe, each lungful of air drawn raggedly over her dry throat. Kim had no sense of time anymore but it seemed like days since he had given her that glass of water. A lifetime that she'd been buried alive in this chamber with only her own thoughts for company.  
  
She knew she was still bleeding, could hear the drops falling like water from a leaking faucet. Looking down, she wasn't sure if the blood pooled beneath her was actually reddish-black or only appeared that way through her dazed vision. If it really was that dark she knew it meant that he'd cut into one of her organs. Gutted her like a lab specimen. He'd thrust the blade up inside of her, ripped and torn the most sensitive parts of her body, ruthlessly spreading a fiery trail of pain.  
  
It hurt so much that her brain had shut down around her pain and she couldn't truly feel it anymore. Her entire lower body felt tingly and numb. Kim wondered if she was going into shock, if he had cut into her womb. If she'd ever to be able to have children, should she even survive. The blood dripped steadily out of her, drop by drop.  
  
End Chapter 5 


End file.
